Gammons mentioned Wolf, Burnett, Meche as possible targets

[badnews]

For the Cubs, on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (6/8/08).

 

Burnett's name has been bandied about a lot, but Wolf and Meche, does anyone else find the idea of acquiring those two guys totally unsatisfying? Wolf is unconvincing as a season long difference maker.

 

Gil Meche. I just plain don't like Gil Meche. I don't think he's a 3.67 ERA 1.30 WHIP pitcher and he's probably as good a bet to land on the DL as Burnett.

 

Thoughts on these guys?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

In the order I'd prefer them:

 

1. Burnett

2. Meche

3. Wolf

 

Burnett is my favorite by a long shot.

[CubbieBum]

Meche has sucked this year but I think the no one cares about teh always losing Royals is taking a toll. He's nothing great but he's a reliable around 4.00 ERA guy who can dominant at times. Now his contract is massive for that type of starter so I wouldn't prefer we get him but I wouldn't mind at the same time. Oh and and he's not injury prone.

 

There's no question Burnett is the best of the bunch. He has had sub 4 era in every year 2002 except the year he made only 4 starts. Speaking of number of starts that is his huge problem. He is extremely injury prone. Since he has become a full time starter at the beginning of the season he averages less than 22 starts a year.

 

Wolf is likely the worst of the bunch but is also the cheapest both salary and value wise. We could get him pretty cheap and would be a very good 4 or 5 guy. A rotation in the playoffs of Z, Demp, Lilly (I assume he starts pitching), and Wolf would be very good. We could probably get Wolf for Marquis and mid level prospect.

[17 Seconds]

If the deadline rolls around and Harden is still healthy (I know, big if) I'd much rather take a shot on him than some of those other stiffs. The only one of those 3 that interests me at all is Burnett and he's kinda "eh". Even when he's healthy you never know what you're going to get.

[Schwarber Fan]

Ah Randy Wolf - the guy who ruined my one trip to Wrigley in 2003

 

Seriously though, you know if we got Burnett, he'd get hurt immediately.

[Little Slide Rooter]

What about Penny? Yes, hes been putrid for a while now, but will he really keep that up forever?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

If the deadline rolls around and Harden is still healthy (I know, big if) I'd much rather take a shot on him than some of those other stiffs. The only one of those 3 that interests me at all is Burnett and he's kinda "eh". Even when he's healthy you never know what you're going to get.

 

I agree. Harden doesn't come with a big contract, so if you deal for him and he gets hurt, you're only out the players. If he is healthy, he's outstanding and you have him through 2009 when you can make a better decision on if you want to invest in his health or take the draft picks. If he completely falls apart, you don't even have to pay him next year(although the 7 million option isn't a terrible gamble for someone of his abilities).

[Backtobanks]

Burnett, Harden, and Lowe interest me, but Wolf, Meche, etc. aren't worth the cost. We need a pitcher that could dominate a game, not just back-of-the-rotation filler. We have enough #4 and #5 candidates with Marquis, Lieber, Gallagher, Marshall, Hill, and Hart.

[erik316wttn]

If the Indians are out of it, I'd see what it would take to get Sabathia first. If they want too much or aren't dealing, then I'd go to Harden, Burnett, etc.

[Jehrico]

If it wasn't for the contract, I'd be interested to see if Rothschild could help Meche take that next step. Half of that though is because I'm sure KC wouldn't want too much for him with the ridiculous contract they gave him.

[Derwood]

my guess is Burnett is a no go. He'd probably immediately exercise his player option, which would mean the Cubs would be adding a multi-year contract; can they do this mid-sale? also, Burnett has sucked this year (83 ERA+, 1.50 WHIP)

[YearofDaCubs]

The pitchers that I would be happy with in this order are:

 

Harden,Burnett, and Meche. I don't think Sabathia will be traded.

[mdwilla]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

[CubbieBum]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

 

Giles? He doesn't play CF.

[javy knows my name]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

 

Giles? He doesn't play CF.

If he can play right at Petco, he can probably play center at Wrigley

[USSoccer]

Greg Maddux would be the worst possible aquisition you could make. He's an awful, awful fit for our division, and quite frankly the only reason his numbers don't completely suck is that his home park is a canyon.

[CubbieBum]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

 

Giles? He doesn't play CF.

If he can play right at Petco, he can probably play center at Wrigley

 

well he's old, pretty slow, and to my knowledge never played CF. Plus Wrigley is one of the hardest if not the hardest to play OF because of the wind. At Petco it's just big.

[Keener98]

Give me Lowe or the extreme longshot Sabathia. I think Lowe could put up some very good numbers in Wrigley. Id throw anything and everything for CC though.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

 

Giles? He doesn't play CF.

If he can play right at Petco, he can probably play center at Wrigley

 

well he's old, pretty slow, and to my knowledge never played CF. Plus Wrigley is one of the hardest if not the hardest to play OF because of the wind. At Petco it's just big.

 

Giles has over 300 career games in CF. Wrigley is an easy CF because of the shallow alleys.

[CubbieBum]

Wolf/Bell/Giles

 

If Edmonds continues to hit we won't need Giles but that would be a nice haul for the stretch run, I would only want Wolf or Maddux if they take Marquis off are hands.

 

Giles? He doesn't play CF.

If he can play right at Petco, he can probably play center at Wrigley

 

well he's old, pretty slow, and to my knowledge never played CF. Plus Wrigley is one of the hardest if not the hardest to play OF because of the wind. At Petco it's just big.

 

Giles has over 300 career games in CF. Wrigley is an easy CF because of the shallow alleys.

 

I have always heard from players and broadcasters that Wrigley is one of the toughest because the wind is so strong and varies a lot.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

to my knowledge never played CF

I would like to introduce you to one of my good friends -- http://www.baseball-reference.com/

[SouthSideRyan]

Trading for Randy Wolf would be really really dumb.

[Jehrico]

Trading for Randy Wolf would be really really dumb.

I don't know. I'd probably do a Marquis for Wolf deal with mid-level filler if needed. Wolf's contract doesn't extend past this season, does it?

[TruffleShuffle]

my guess is Burnett is a no go. He'd probably immediately exercise his player option, which would mean the Cubs would be adding a multi-year contract; can they do this mid-sale? also, Burnett has sucked this year (83 ERA+, 1.50 WHIP)

 

the speculation coming into this year was that burnett would certainly opt out at the end of the year, given that he's been a very good pitcher for the last four years, and he'd have the opportunity to get another multi-year contract.

[UMFan83]

If there was even a 75% chance Harden would stay healthy, I would take him over every other player mentioned including Sabathia